Flowers in their Heads
by Pacificana
Summary: AU: Being a Jinchuuriki is a sickness of a sort , and a crazy scientist three guesses for who that is is about to put in danger the lives of all those Naruto characters we love. I might add SasuNaru... Quite possibly actually...
1. Chapter 1

**My first Fanfiction... I hope you like it. **

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Naruto... Nor does anybody else who writed these...

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**The blond man sat down heavily on one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs. He hated waiting. Unfortunately, you did that a lot when you went to hospital. And he went to the hospital more often than he would have liked. He had to. He looked at the white walls, and the desk where one of the nurses he knew was working. 

He could go talk to her. Or not. Her name was Sakura, she was a nice pink-haired nurse (he was sure she died it, but she kept refuting that theory), and she could be good fun. But she could get extremely annoyed if you bothered her while she was working, he knew from experience. She had been in the same class as him for years, before she started studying to become a nurse. Sometimes, he thought she had done it to help him.

Sighing he stared at the floor. He'd never particularly liked the tiles, but there was nothing else to do. Bored, he let his mind drift. After some time, he unconsciously started thinking about the past. Realising what he was doing, he shook his head violently. _Must not think of that_, he told himself. No thinking about the past, especially right before seeing Shizune. She would be able to tell something was wrong, and then would keep him for hours. He would miss his lunch.

"Naruto!" Hearing his name, the blond jumped up and ran towards the front desk. Sakura had left, having been replaced by Ino, another of the nurses. He was surprised he hadn't noticed.

"She's ready for you," Ino told him kindly " you know the way."

"Would be kinda scary if I didn't know the way by now, right?" Naruto answered her, laughing, "This stupid thing doesn't give me amnesia!" _unfortunately_, he added inwardly.

"Well, check out when you're done, alright? Amnesic or not you forget to do that all too often." She sighed. Naruto had already run off towards the stairs, not even bothering to listen to the nurse as she chided him. He was here so often it didn't really matter whether or not he checked in and out at all. It was just procedure, which he usually decided to ignore.

He knocked on the door of Shizune's office. When he wasn't having any major problems, it was Doctor Shizune who would take care of all the exams. Bit if he had been having a bad time, he would talk to Tsunade directly. Tsunade Sanin was the director of the hospital, as well as being a famous and honoured doctor. He was meat to call her Doctor Sanin, of Doctor Tsunade at the very least. but he knew her so well by now that he didn't bother. Instead, he called he baa-chan. after all, she'd been taking care of him since he was six. She called him brat, and he didn't know who his parents were. Why shouldn't he consider her as his grandma?

Shizune came to the door, smiling brightly. She knew it would be him.

"Hello Naruto!" she greeted him, before ushering him in for his weekly tests. First they did an x-ray, and then a blood test. It was short, but having to do it every week really took a toll on a person. At least, now, Naruto knew exactly what to do, and how everything worked.

He chatted with Shizune while she did what she had to do. He kind of preferred it when it was Shizune who did the tests. It was easy to guide the conversation away from himself and onto her. There was no such luck to be had with Tsunade. Nor with Ino and Sakura, who sometimes took it upon themselves to relieve him from staying too long in the waiting room. They both knew he didn't like waiting. It provided to much of an opportunity for thinking. And for him, that usually ended badly.

* * *

Naruto rushed down the stairs. He had just finished with the tests, and he was doing to be late, again. He was having lunch with Iruka, his guardian (of sorts). Iruka had been his primary school teacher, and had become so attached to Naruto, following his progress to this day. Whenever Naruto was having a bad stretch, he would always be the first to know, whether or not Naruto actually told him.

Not looking where he was going, the blond suddenly ran into a red haired man.

"Gaara!" Naruto cried out, happily. The other smiled slightly, looking as stony as he always did. If anybody other than Naruto had run into him, they would have regretted it deeply, but Naruto was just lucky that way.

"Naruto." the red haired man greeted him.

"How's Shukaku doing?" There was a pause before Gaara answered hesitantly. He still despised talking about their shared... sickness. Bit since it was Naruto...

"Hasn't been very pleasant lately." There was another pause "how about you? How's Kyuubi?"

"Silent as a mouse. Better even. You gonna see Shizune?"

"yes." Gaara scowled. Naruto laughed. Seeing the redhead scowl was a scary sight, to say the least, and anyone else would have shied away, but it was Naruto who had convinced Gaara to come to the hospital. If Gaara didn't come of his own accord, he would be dragged there by his brother and sister. And if they failed, Naruto would drag him there. All said, it was easier if Gaara came willingly, and therefore, alone.

"Well, see you later. I'll meeting Iruka. You're coming tonight right?"

"I will." Gaara almost smiled again as the blond bounced away from him, almost crashing down the stairs. Then he smirked. Time to scare the shit out of Shizune!

Naruto rushed out of the hospital, Sakura yelling after him because he hadn't checked out, yet again, and him screaming back that he was already late. He was running flat out, thinking of how worried Iruka would be. No matter how often Naruto arrived late, Iruka would always presume that something horrible had happened. Usually, it hadn't, but occasionally, he was right.

**Maybe you should just miss it. It would be infinitely fun to see his that idiot's frantic face. Again. I really never get tired of it.**

Naruto almost collided with the telephone pole in front of him. Kyuubi had woken up. Again.

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**You must have guessed it but just in case, if it's in Italics, it's Naruto thinking, and if it's in bold, and not an author's note, then it's Kyuubi thinking.**

**Please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Jeez that was tiring. Very tiring. Ah well. I'll soon know wether or not it was worth it, right?**

**Disclaimer: Nope, I do not have the priviledge of owning Naruto... Or Jiraya... Or Tsunade... You get the point.

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Maybe you should just miss it. It would be infinitely fun to see his that idiot's frantic face. Again. I really never get tired of it.**

Naruto almost collided with the telephone pole in front of him. Kyuubi had woken up. Again.

_Shut up. _Ow. That hurt.

**But it would be fun. You know it would. You just won't admit it.**

_No. It. Would. Not._

**Well, could you make it quick? It's bad enough being in your mind all the time. Living your annoying life. But having to hear you tell it all over again to that idiot? Look, you don't even need them. I mean, if you'd listen to me a bit more often...**

_I said, Shut up!_

**If you'd listened to me that little brainless raven would never have almost killed you.**

_SHUT UP!_

**Oh, you don't like thinking about that do you? How he betrayed you and left with-**

"Shut Up!" Naruto screamed. He was panting with effort, trying to get the bijuu out of his mind. He suddenly realised people were staring at him. But as soon as he looked up, they looked away suddenly, as if they hadn't seen anything, and continued on their way. Those who weren't already there quickly crossed to the other side of the road, so as not to approach Naruto.

_Damn, _he thought. He could mostly manage to keep conversations with Kyuubi in his head, but when the bijuu started playing with him the way he just had, it was hard for him to keep control. He started walking again slowly. And then he looked at his watch.

"Shit!" He'd forgotten what he was running for. Iruka was going to kill him.

**I wouldn't let him. That pleasure is reserved to another person. Although he isn't any good at it.**

"Do you know how to be quiet?" Naruto muttered aloud, which was against good sense ans all his reasoning, but Kyuubi was really getting on his nerves. More than usual.

**Well, admit it, I do help you. A lot. I mean, after all, I wouldn't want my container to look like a bloody fool, would I? It would just ruin my reputation. But even with me helping, you manage to make a damn right fool of yourself in every situation.**

_Whatever_

**Not much of a conversationalist are you? Not anymore. Not since Sasu-**

_SHUT UP!_

Kyuubi didn't continue, startling Naruto completely. Then again, the Bijuu probably didn't want his "container" to break down completely. He shook his head and continued running, quickly getting closer to the Ichiraku ramen stand.

Seeing the stand, and Iruka waiting for him, annoyed and anxious, Naruto immediately cheered up. As Iruka saw Naruto, he seemed deeply relieved.

"Naruto! Where were you?

"Shizune kept me for ages." Naruto panted back, "So if you want to blame anyone, blame her!"

**You know, to me, and him, it sounds like you're basically admitting I got tired of leaving you alone... You could be a little less obvious. It really wouldn't hurt.**

Naruto chose to ignore the annoying demon and to talk to Iruka instead, seeing as the later (obviously agreeing -unconsciously- with Kyuubi) was looking at him with a mixture of disbelief and worry.

"So, how was your morning?"

"Alright..." Iruka answered slowly. After that, they sat down, ordered, ate (a lot in Naruto's case, much less in Iruka's), and chattered merrily. Naruto even managed to ignore Kyuubi's sly remarks, keeping a completely normal demeanor (for him anyway).

* * *

Naruto was walking down the street heading for one of the mansions which was at the bottom of the lane. He felt slightly out of place whenever he came near here, but he knew it would be fine. He was about to meet the others. The jinchuuriki, that is. He wasn't actually sure how many would come. He knew Gaara would be there, and so would Fara, but for the others, he wasn't quite sure 

**You're being watched**... started Kyuubi, making Naruto jump again.

_It's funny_, he thought_, You'd think it wouldn't surprise me so much anymore_

**Yes... You really do make a fool out of yourself every time... Did you even listen to what I said**

_No... I try not to as a general rule_. Kyuubi growled. Naruto smirked. Kyuubi 32 152, Naruto 5.

**I said, **the demon sounded strained and annoyed (that's a bad thing, especially for a demon), **you are being followed.**

_Actually, you said I was being watched._ Score! Naruto 6.

The demon had been at him for so long, it was really time he made up for it. Those thoughts were blown out of his head -through his ears in case you were wondering how- when the bijuu inside him roared. Naruto had to put his hands to his head and sit down it hurt so much. He was definitely going to have a migraine.

* * *

Not far away, a pair of eyes watched the blonde's movements, Curiously, silently and in peace, having been forgotten by both the demon and it's container. For the latter the moment would quickly be forgotten, pushed aside by some more pressing matters (food, for instance), but the man would have no such luck with the demon. Demons seemed to have an exceptional memory, was unfortunately rather troubling. 

He didn't know why the blond suddenly collapsed (then again, the blond was uniquely complicated), but he felt sure that the Demon had noticed him, even if Naruto hadn't.

Because, even if Naruto didn't actually make sense of anything he saw (if this was because he didn't want to, couldn't be bothered , or just plain couldn't, no one knew), the bijuu inside of him was sure to analyze every little piece of information that came into the blonde's head.

The only question that was really worth asking was whether the demon would bother to tell his container what he had missed. The man watching could be sure. Because he didn't know what would happen to the demon when Naruto died. Would the demon die too? Or would he be freed? The man sighed. the only was to know for sure would be to kill Naruto. Or one of the others.

* * *

A man clad all in black sat back into the big chair that strongly resembled a throne. Any other person would have looked out of place sitting in the "armchair" made of wood, carved with designs of snakes and skulls, but this man seemed to belong there. 

Although the chair would suggest otherwise, the rest of the chamber was modern. It seemed to have all the things you would have found in a hospital. Except that this place was not white, apart from a few objects that unfortunately for our dark character, did not come in any other colour than pure, innocent white. He did his best to change that.

"My Lord." A voice came. The man on the chair looked slightly annoyed for an instant.

"What is it Kabuto?" His tone clearly said that he did not want to be disturbed at the moment.

"I have come to report on the-"

"Where is he?" The man interrupted. One might have thought there was no reason for this individual to hate pale colours. His skin seemed to be the essence of white. Kabuto did not answer.

"Where. Is. He?" Lord Orochimaru asked again.

"he has not returned yet." Kabuto said, looking down at his feet. Orochimaru was not something he liked to behold when he did not have good news to report.

"Go on then. Report." Orochimaru said, his voice obviously terribly angered.

"It has failed. Again..." Kabuto would have a lot of calming to do.

* * *

The blond woman sat down, looking at her watch. She then proceeded to inspect the appliances on her desk once again. Her computer, her pens, her papers... Too many papers, too many pens. After having decided yet again to clean up her desk, she stood and went to the window. Why wouldn't that idiot ever be on time? 

Outside Tsunade's office, Shizune was working. Which is why she didn't notice when two very spiky-haired men and a dog came through the door and walked up to her desk.

A "Hey there!" was what made her look up. One of the men had grey spiky hair, and the other, black spiky hair.

"Hello" she answered with a very professional voice which every-Secretary-digne-de-ce-nom must have **1**. "can I help you?"

"Well, if you could tell me where to find a blond woman who just happens to have a very prominent chest, I think that would help a lot."

"Have you got an appointment?" The secretary persisted using that voice, which very much got on the little dog's nerves. His two masters didn't enjoy it much either.

"Just tell her that Jiraya's here will you?"

"And Kiba!" the younger man almost yelled. There was a bark. The other man sighed before adding:

"And Akamaru." Shizune, like any other proper Secretary would have done, almost jumped out of her skin.

"You can't have dogs in here!" she cried in a very distressed manner, which made both men want to throw Akamaru out of the window to come to the young -and pretty- damsel in distress' aid.

"Ir's all right Shizune." The blond woman had come out of her office.

"Doctor Tsunade!" Shizune exclaimed, obviously even more greatly distressed at not having been able to contain the situation than she was because of the dog's presence.

"Tsunade!" yelled Jiraya. "How did you know we were here?" For some reason, he continued yelling. (I wonder why?)

"Because, you are. There isn't usually this much ruckus in the hospital. Only you could do that. Now come in." Jiraya grumbled and sulked while proceeding into the director's office. As kiba followed him, he turned to stop him.

"Stay outside Kiba. Or you'll regret it." Then he whispered "she'll beat you up if you come." The younger mans hied away, and let the door close without entering. Although thin was abnormal behavior for him, he deemed it to be necessary.

* * *

"Sit down." Tsunade ordered. Jiraya would would usually have played and joked around for a while before getting to business, sat down and looked at her seriously. 

"You know what I want." He said.

"Yes. I do." Tsunade sighed.

"I"ll have more of a chance of getting at him if I understand what he did Tsunade."

"I know. But they trust me. They trust me not to tell anyone."

"This is a police investigation. I will not tell anyone, and you know it. Besides, it will be better for all of them if that bastard is caught."

"But Naruto..."

"Don't pull that shit on me. Naruto want him caught and behind bars more than anyone else does. And all the others want what Naruto want, basically. So, no problem." Silence filled the room. Tsunade sighed again.

"Alright."

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**1 That's a french expression it means, literally worthy of that name. I couldn't find anything in english that fit, so there you are, stuck with french.**

**Well, that's That. Please review. I don't bite, and I don't stalk. So feel free. **

**And thank you very much for reviewing Rachel07 I** **greatly appreciated it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Meh, this is as tiring each time I do it. Then again, I was supposed to go to bed several hours ago... Whatever, I was going to make this chappie longer, But, as I mentioned, I'm tired. Very.**

**Tell me what you think... I don't know wether or not you like all that changing person stuff all the time, so really, it would be a great help. Thanks, and Enjoy.**

**Oh, I'd also like to thank the two people that have favorited my story. It is a great honour -bows low-. )**

**Disclaimer: Or Kiba... Or Shizune (ah, but I own her actions ! and her particularly srange behaviour!)... Or Akamaru...

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As Naruto reached the door, still rubbing his head because of the headache Kyuubi had given him, it opened, seemingly on it's own. As he stepped in, hesitantly, it slammed behind him. Fara was usually there to greet him. Oh well. She was probably occupied.

He walked down the hall, running his fingers over the planked which covered the bottom part of the wall.

Inside his head, Kyuubi sighed, annoyed. Firstly, the boy feeling out of place got on his nerves. He shouldn't really. He'd been here often enough. Besides, none of the people here would hurt him, firstly, because it would never cross their mind to do so, and secondly, even if, for some unknown reason, they wanted to fight him, Kyuubi would never let them win.

The other thing that bothered him was the man that had been watching them. Well, watching Naruto anyway. Considering the blond idiot had distracted him, (he cursed the boy for actually managing to do that. The one time he actually needed to concentrate too!) he had no idea who the person was, what he had been doing, and he hadn't been able to catch on to the man's intentions. And this annoyed him considerably. He decided he would rest and leave Naruto to his own devices, even if it meant the blond would humiliate him in front of the other Bijuu. He'd probably wake up if anything important happened anyway. The blond was so God dammed loud! Outside, and (surprisingly enough) inside as well.

Naruto turned into a room, smiling widely. He might have had an outrageously large lunch, but hey, he was a big eater. Fara wouldn't mind if he sneaked, unnoticed, into the kitchen. He would just sneak in, take some ice cream, and sneak out. A perfect plan, if he didn't say so himself. Well apart from the fact that someone was standing in front of the fridge, rummaging around in search of something.

_Damn._ His perfect plan would be foiled. The man turned towards Naruto, a bottle of mineral water in his hand.

"So you too, heh?" The boy smiled, showing an unnatural amount of very sharp-looking teeth.

"Mhh..." Naruto answered, nodding, "except, I was going for something slightly more substantial than water." he continued, opening the freezing compartment at the top of the fridge. The other boy headed for some cupboards, taking out two bowls and two spoons. Naruto stared, perplexed.

"Can't you count?" Naruto asked him. The other boy laughed.

"You seem to be mistaking me with someone else. You're the one that has trouble with numbers. Remember?" He pointed to himself "One," and then at Naruto "Two."

This was strange. The taller boy seemed to practically live on water and meat. So why did he suddenly fancy ice-cream? Naruto decided not to make more of a fool of himself than he already had. He just took out the ice-cream, and served a generous portion into each bowl.

"Come on. Let's go see the others." The taller, black haired boy said, taking one of the bowls. Naruto took up his own, leaving the rest of the ice-cream on the counter.

As they went back into the corridor, Naruto noticed that in the light, the black haired boy's hair suddenly had blue reflexions.

_Strange_, he thought to himself.

**Not really**, a voice contradicted him.

_Typical. You have to show up whenever I don't understand something._

**Well, he is stuck with Isonade isn't he?** Naruto paused slightly.

_Yeah, I guess you're right..._

**Of course I am.** Naruto growled audibly. The boy in front of him barely glanced back at him. He was used to it. Though Isonade surely couldn't be as bad as Kyuubi, he thought, shuddering slightly. Poor Naruto.

As they came onto another very big room, the black haired boy headed towards a white haired girl and handed her the ice-cream.

"AH HAH!" Yelled Naruto, suddenly comprehending what had happened earlier, and scarring most of the people in the room with his outburst (except, well, most of them really. They happen to be very... Stoic, people.) The boy was on a water and meat diet after all!

* * *

The little dog sniffed around the only plant that was his height. He was frustrated. Not only had his master put him on the floor and then ignored him completely for an extended amount of time, but the woman he was talking to was not looking pleased. She wasn't even looking at Kiba. She was continuously glaring at the little dog. 

Then the little dog lifted his leg.

She threw herself across her desk, making Kiba fall unceremoniously onto his butt, (to his great embarrassment, he let out a high girlish scream) and scattering all her pens and papers in every direction. She landed hard on the floor (at least that was something to be thankful for. She could have landed on Kiba!), and got up in a flash in time to see...

The little white dog scratching his ear.

She opened her eyes wide.

"False Alarm!" she cried joyfully. Then she looked at all her desk appliances scattered all over the floor. She glowered at the dog. The sadistic white fluffy thing seemed to be grinning, ad she was almost sure that this time, it was not her imagination. Maybe when he had pretended to rip apart an important document. Maybe when he had pretended to vomit on her beautiful carpet. But not this time. No. The dog was really making fun of her. She took on a menacing pose. No little dog could intimidate her!

Then, the little dog sneezed, and Shizune, even when she knew that it was the worst thing she could possibly do went "Awwwww" before running forwards, picking up the dog, and embracing it, tightly.

"Awwww!" she repeated "My little Maru's so cuuuuute. Look at his wittle wittle shneeze!"

Kiba, who was still sitting on his butt, was so startled that his head followed his rear end, making contact with the carpet. (The one Akamaru had pretended to vomit on). The fact that the back of his head connected with a pair of scissors was very significant in the act of forming a giant bump on the back of his now very, very sore head.

It was at that very moment that Jiraya chose to come out of Tsunade's office. That was not extraordinary. He had very bad timing, and had had the foresight of making his apprentice acquire that trait too. That was legendary. No, what was extraordinary was that Jiraya did not notice the mess in the room. Generally, he would have jumped at the occasion to join in the fun. But today...

As Kiba looked up at him, all he could think was that whatever her and Tsunade had discussed must not have been pleasant. At all. Actually, for Jiraya to look and act like that, there were a surprisingly few amount of images that he could come up with (one of the ones he did come up with was Jiraya walking into public baths for girls, and then only having old grannies to look at. And then a hoard of ugly gay men coming after him. And then Tsunade beating him up for hos inappropriate behaviour. And then being laughed at by Naruto.) so you can imagine how troubled he seemed.

"C'mon Kiba." the spiky white haired man ordered "We're going. Bye Shizune." Kiba took Akamaru from a wailing Shizune before following his tutor out the door. He wondered if Jiraya would tell him anything. Probably not, considering they were dealing with Orochimaru.

* * *

Although it is besides the point, the very professional Secretary that Shizune was and always will be has become temporarily slightly less professional. She still acts like one, God forbid, but she only acts like one now. Behind her facade lies a completely different story. The woman's heart having been stolen by a small, white, cute, adorably, sneezing ball of fluffy fur that people dare call Akamaru instead of the beautiful name Maru, which he most obviously deserves, she can no longer do anything but try to find ways of making him hers. Unfortunately, when she tried asking nicely, Kiba blatantly refused. So, behind that very professional secretary demeanor hides a mind broiling with (relatively) illegal strategies to acquire what, by rights, is hers. 

But, as I said, this is besides the point. ).

* * *

Jiraya lay back into his armchair, his beer in his hand. He was thinking back to everything Tsunade had told him. He shuddered, recalling her words. 

"He was doing... experiments. Crazy experiments. On people. Not only adults either. He also did many on children. Babies. Foetuses." He closed his eyes, trying to block it out. He knew it would help him with his investigation, but having to consider it at home... all the time. It was horrible. There wasn't a word that described how it would make a person feel. Unless you were actually as evil and crazy as that bastard was, you wold feel scared **1**. Terrified even. But to think that his old mate had done the unthinkable...

Jiraya Shamin, Tsunade Sanin and Orochimaru Sumin. At an early age, they had been in class together, with a teacher of renowned status. Orochimaru had been the dark creepy kid, Tsunade the smart girl with a bad temper, and Jiraya, the moron. They had always argued, but they could get along. When they reached the age to leave their teacher for independent studies, Jiraya had gone straight for police officer, Tsunade for medical studies, and Orochimaru for a mix of medical, chemistry, and something that for the life of him, Jiraya couldn't grasp the mere concept of. It made Jiraya sick to even think about it.

He had to find that bastard. Not only had he ruined the lives of nine innocent children (who weren't even that at the time) but he continuously invaded the inspector and his apprentice, which infuriated everyone.

Speaking of apprentice, Kiba had been with him for years now. Maybe it was time to change that... He'd have to ask Kiba what he thought.

Again, and not for the last time that night, Jiraya Shamin sighed.

* * *

Sasuke dropped down from the tree he had been perching in. _No more stalling,_ he told himself. Lord Orochimaru would be so mad at him. He had been gone longer than the man had ordered. He wouldn't really be punished, but Orochimaru would probably think twice before sending him anywhere for a while. _Oh well. It was worth it._

He walked peacefully towards the stairs that led to the underground base where Orochimaru was currently hiding. Well, when it was put like that, it sounded easy and obvious to find. It wasn't quite so in reality. The stairs were actually concealed by a boulder. A fake boulder of course, but a boulder nonetheless (to anyone that wasn't into the secret, and nobody was into the secret, unless Orochimaru had told them himself. That naturally made very, very few people. And less even than that.)

Pressing at exactly the right place for the eye scan and the keyboard to come out, Sasuke knew his few days of freedom were over. Now that Orochimaru knew that he was back (the man would know he was back within seconds of him setting foot on the ground, 100 meters around the -fake- boulder), he would be needed for many different things. Like experiments. Experiments that Naruto had been put through. He was working for the man that had made Naruto what he was. But that could not be helped. Sasuke had to go through this to attain his goals. And being Sasuke Uchiha, his goals were more important than anything else.

Sasuke typed in the code and put his eye to the retina scanner. He pulled back as the boulder opened, letting him safely down the winding stairs. As he reached the bottom, he made out a figure with grey hair.

"Kabuto."

"Sasuke. You took long. Too long. He's angry."

"Well, I'm here now." Sasuke shrugged. "How did it go?"

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**1. **I'm sorry to say, but there really are some crazy scientists. For expample in World War Two...

**Meh, well that's that. Mhhh... Review, please.**

**I've just found out that I had a great love for drawing with Chineese ink... Although that doesn't quite mean much to you... But I also found out that I loved playing with this Shizune...**

Shizune: Look, Kiba, (in a professional secretay-like voice) you really should be more considerate, I mean, I'm sure he want to be with me, really.

Kiba: -scoffs- Yeah right. Piss off.

Shizune: (pleading) Well, at least half time then?! Please! -Kiba slams the door in her face- (She screams) YOU CAN'T KEEP ME AWAY FROM HIM! YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T!

That was Shizune failing to talk sense into Kiba. This scene unfortunately leads to more illegal activities for our professional secretary.


	4. Chapter 4

**I was going to make this chapter longer, but I wanted to post it today, so there you go. Enjoy. Well at least I hope you enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: Or Sasuke... Or Orochimaru

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Orochimaru was happy. A rare thing for him indeed. Well, he was happier than he had been for a while anyway. His experiments had not yet succeeded, but they were getting closer. So much closer. And Sasuke was back. Things were always so much easier when Sasuke was around. Orochimaru could always heap work on him and the boy never complained. Not outwardly anyway. It was so much fun to watch the raven fuming inwardly, obviously burning with hate for him, the man he had to call his master.

Orochimaru didn't know why he stayed with him anyway. His guess was that Sasuke wanted to learn as much from him as possible. But what for, only the raven knew. Maybe it was to help that boy. The ninth. But it could just be to become as smart as that other Uchiha. Itachi. That man was a real genius. Orochimaru should know. He had worked with him. To say that it hadn't gone well would be like saying the ocean was a baby's paddling pool. The man was a prodigy, and there was nothing for it. Sasuke would never be able to catch up to him.

But if it was to help the ninth, Orochimaru had no idea what the outcome could be. He had been forced to leave as soon as his experiments had succeeded. He wished he would have observed him longer. Well, in any case, they had taught him a lot. He smiled remembering the past.

* * *

A younger Orochimaru walked around restlessly, thinking over his latest idea. He'd managed many things up till now. Clones, replicas... Things that were meant to be impossible. But he had done them. He had managed, at his young age, to do what other scientists had tried to do for so long, and had failed miserably. 

On his possession, he had many creatures. Some looked normal. Some did not. But he knew that really, none of them were anything near normal. They were his. He had made them.

And all of them were at least partly human. It was unfortunate though that most of his creatures were very young. He preferred experiments on adults, but until recently, none of the gene transferring experiments he had done on adults had worked. The human usually died. Pity. When they died, he needed new ones. And they were such a bother to get.

But for his next operation, he would do it on foetuses. Those were hard to get, but, it was fun. It was fun to watch the women -after he had taken what was most precious to them- sob like it was the end of the world. It wasn't as though he had taken their heart. No. He had done worse. So much worse.

He would need to do a lot of research. He didn't know if what he planned was even possible. To transfer genes of creatures that might not even exist into a foetus... In his sick, evil mind, he could see it work out perfectly, exactly as he planned.

First, he would have to find the relics. Then, the foetuses. And then, do the operation. Afterwards, if the... things borne from his experiments survived, he could watch them. And use them.

He would use the Jinchuuriki to do his bidding. Use the children with the demons he had put inside of them.

He smiled.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

The black haired man smiled. He had everything he needed now. This was amazing. Not only had the myths and legends been true, but he had been able to find relics of the demons. Relics of Gods that held unimaginable power. His dreams were coming within reach.

The only thing out of place was the mounting suspicion being directed towards him. Why could people not leave him alone to work in peace? Tsunade was the most annoying. She was suspicious. Useless bitch.

At this rate, she would find out what was wrong. Well, not wrong... Never wrong... But she would find out what he was doing at any rate, and that could cause him serious trouble.

He would have to start the operation now. After all, he had the cells of the nine demons and the nine foetuses at his disposition, just waiting for him to start, the foetuses being kept alive in post with the methods Orochimaru himself had put in place.

"Yes." He said out loud. "It's time.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Orochimaru could barely believe it. His experiments had worked. Of course they had worked he chastised himself for thinking that the contrary could have happened. But the fact that those foetuses had survived... They were forming into real human bodies too. He had done everything just right.

It was perfect. He was a genius (if he didn't say so himself). He had managed to combine human genes with those of a demon (well, more the other way around, but that fact was irrelevant). He had no idea how long his experiments would survive, but it would be interesting to observe what happened. Maybe these humans would have some abilities that the demons had. They would be perfect to study. Absolutely perfect.

From the fist tail to the ninth, everything had gone perfectly.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

The experiments were now two years old. Orochimaru had been studying them from the beginning, and they were amazing. They had human shapes, but the demons had complete control over their minds.

Well, that was before. Now the ones with the weaker demons could take over. But they were never mere children. They could talk, think, even analyze some of his other experiments if he asked them to. They were already at a greater mental level than most adults. _Maybe_, he thought, _the demons are teaching them all that they know. Maybe, when they have transferred their knowledge to these children, I will be able to accomplish even more..._

But he was now having an impossible time keeping Tsunade off his back. Even Jiraya was starting to believe that something was wrong. Whatever happened though, he must not let Tsunade get hold of the Jinchuuriki. Never. Who knew what she would do with them?

The police chief was after him. The Third. The third one to have attained a reasonable level, and be recognised worldwide. The third that had been his and his 'comrades'' teacher.

Orochimaru barely hesitated before pulling the blue lever down. This lever opened a catch which would let the Jinchuuriki out into the world. He didn't know how long they would survive out there, but it was better for them to be out in the world than to be found and killed here. He still wanted to see what they could do.

Orochimaru might come back for a few of them. To study them.

Hoping he would find them again, he fled the village of Konoha.

All he wished was that he would get back before Tsunade tried anything, and sullied his perfect experiment. With that heart of hers, she would probably ruin his life's work.

* * *

"Shut up Naruto." Jianyi told him calmly. She was sitting on the windowsill, looking outside. Her brown hair was pulled back in her usual eight braids (trust her to be proud of her bijuu) and her green eyes were unfocused. He was probably interrupting a conversation she was having with Yamato no Orochi, the eight tailed demon. 

"Whatever." Naruto was now sulking slightly. She always treated him like this.

Goubei took the ice-cream, smiling at the boy above her, her white eyes showing how happy she was. "Thanks Shuyo! I love that type of ice-cream!" Naruto sulked some more, and decided to crumple in grief and eat his ice-cream in one of the comfy armchairs so carefully spaced around the room.

"Hey" An indignant voice made him jump just as he was about to sit down. Motuhuan had been sitting there. _Damn, _thought Naruto. This wasn't the first time he did that, almost squishing the other boy. That boy was just so small and unnoticeable. (The exact opposite of Naruto, I"ll have you notice).

"Sorry, sorry." Naruto jumped back, dropping his ice-cream in the process. A hand darted out to catch the bowl before it reached the floor.

"Don't drop things. I don't want to have to clean up." Fara was handing the bowl to him, scolding him at the same time.

"Ah, yeah. Sor-"

"And who told you that you could take ice-cream?" Fara's black eyes looked dangerous and the nail on the finger she pointed at him seemed like a claw about to scratch him to death. Naruto jumped back again.

"He took some too!" he shouted, pointing his finger indignantly at Shuyo. The black haired boy grinned, showing his pointy teeth.

"It's impolite to point." Fara retorted, slapping down his hand with the finger she had been pointing at him. Behind her, Gaara smirked before walking in and occupying the last spare armchair.

"Hey!" Naruto cried out, running after Gaara. "I was about to take that chair!" Fara sighed, catching the ice-cream bowl before it reached the floor for the second time. She looked up again when she heard Naruto cry out in pain. Jianyi had gotten up and hit Naruto (rather forcefully) on the head shouting : "I said - Shut Up" And then, having succeeded in making the blond speechless, had gone back to the windowsill. The girl was now surrounded with an aura of contentment.

"And you know, this is an armchair. Not just a chair. Get your words right." Gaara had not been able to stop himself from adding.

Fara smiled. Everything was going fine. It was a pity only seven of them were here; The other two would have enjoyed this immensely.

* * *

Shizune was sitting at her desk, and was looking at her computer screen. One of her hands held her mouse, whilst the other hovered over the keyboard. Anyone looking at her would have had no doubt about how professional she was being. 

Needless to day, she wasn't. Not in the least. Not only was she not being professional, but her mind was filled with illegal plans to obtain a certain fluffy white animal that was not legally hers. And on her screen was not a list of patients, but a list of little dogie treats she was ordering on Amazon.

Shizune was so concentrated on her 'work' that she did not hear anything as the door opened and then closed, and did not notice when the tall blond woman started talking to her.

"Shizune, are you even listening to me?" This scared Shizune out of her wits. Having always been one of those excellent, hard working secretaries, she did not know how to act in such a situation. (Usually, you smile and say, "Oh, I'm so sorry Doctor Tsunade. I was just doing -insert lie here-, and I didn't hear you arrive. And at this point the said boss would say: "Well, obviously. Now stop trying to find a way of getting Akamaru back, and get to work." -Oops. The inserted lie failed miserably...-)

"I said," Tsunade's voice did not hide her irritation at the young woman. The said young woman flinched. "That I wanted to see all nine of the Jinchuuriki personally. And as soon as possible." Having heard this, a disgruntled Akamaru was pushed to the back of Shizune's mind. Why would Tsunade suddenly want to see all of the Jinchuuriki? Unless... As Tsunade started heading back to her office, trusting Shizune to take care of everything according to what she had said, she was by a suddenly very worried voice.

"Why do you want to see them Tsunade? What's wrong?"

"Why does something have to be wrong for me to want to see them?"

"Because... Just, because. This just doesn't sound right."

"You're right I suppose... There might be a little problem. But don't worry about it. Just get them here. This might turn out like every other time." Tsunade flashed a fake reassuring smile at Shizune, but it just made the secretary feel worse. Nobody could be sure how long the Jinchuuriki would stay healthy and energetic as they currently were (well, some more than others, but that's besides the point.) It was unclear if they would even survive much longer. A human body was never made to accommodate a demon.

On Tsunade's order, Shizune would have to call them all up and arrange meetings. This had happened often enough before, but she always hated to get all of them worried. None of them liked coming to hospital.

Maybe she would wait till tomorrow. They were all having a meeting at one of their houses, and she didn't want to disturb them. Tsunade poked her head out of the door.

"I meant now Shizune. Get on it, will you?"

* * *

Naruto was sitting on the floor, eating his ice-cream. Everyone else had settled down comfortably in their chair, armchair, or, well, anything chair really. Except him. Because they had all stolen the chars. Remembering that little fact, Naruto frowned. Inside his head, Kyuubi was howling with laughter. 

Calming himself down, he carefully went through everything Naruto had seen. He was trying to determine how all the other Bijuu were faring. Some of them annoyed the hell out of him, but he was starting to get a bad feeling, and he wondered whether they were feeling the same. He'd noticed that man watching them, and it had made him feel that something strange was about to happen. Something bad.

The appearance of a watchful figure earlier that day was not surprising or unusual. Ever since that stupid scientist had let all nine of the children free, people had some to watch them. Probably to see if they were still alive.

What was strange was that the Bijuu had realised that he and Naruto had been followed more often recently. Especially these past months. It seemed like trouble was coming, and he didn't like it.

Kyuubi sighed inwardly. He wondered if the others had seen anything. Probably. He would have to speak to them. All of them. But only seven of them were here today. It would have to wait.

"Naruto?" Fara's voice tore him from his brooding state. "Why did you want us to meet up today?" Naruto thought for a few seconds before answering.

"Dunno. Thought it might be fun, I guess..." Nobody spoke for a while. "Maybe it was Kyuubi's idea. I can't remember." Amazingly, Kyuubi had nothing to answer to that. If he had wanted this, it was unconscious. Both demon and human shrugged it off.

"Well, it is nice to see all of you..." Goubei was always kind and optimistic. Well, when she was alone with all the other Jinchuuriki anyway. When 'normal' people were present, she would put up a whole different facade that was the complete opposite of her real personality. She made an illusion of herself, and made people think she was cold and heartless. Maybe not in her best interest, but it worked. Naruto grinned at her, not noticing the smile that Shuyo graced the white haired girl with.

**Well, well, well. Isonade and Houkou. Who would have thought?**

_What are you talking about?_

**Forget it. You wouldn't understand this. You're too unobservant and idiotic.**

_Hey!_ Naruto's mental protest were met with silence.

All of the teens proceeded to chat merrily (or as merrily as possible for them anyway. The demons' personalities were usually rather grim, and that often made their containers silent and broody -note the often. Some individual cases do not apply.-) This continued until Kyuubi could no longer restrain his anxiety.

**Kid. I'm getting a bad feeling about that person earlier-**

_What person?_

**The one that was watching us. Tell the others this... **he proceeded to give his instructions, ignoring Naruto's bewilderment.

"Uh, guys..." Naruto was confused. Kyuubi rarely did things like this. Bar that. Kyuubi never did things like this. He usually insulted Naruto, and played sadistically with the blonde's mind. "I've... got to go.And we have to meet again in a week's time. Here. And all of us have got to be here. And I mean, all of us. Someone get in touch with Goshin and Banji." All of the others present stared at Naruto, startled, as he got up and left with only a little 'Bye' to excuse himself.

They all stared at the unfinished ice-cream he had left on the floor.

"That- That was strange... What's wrong with Naruto?" The people in the room looked at each other worriedly.

"Nothing's wrong with Naruto." Jianyi quietly said, putting into words what all of them knew deep down. "Because that wasn't Naruto." Even though the others knew what she was saying was true, and obvious (to the demons inside of them), they all stared at her in disbelief. "That-That was Kyuubi no Kitsune." Even she was wide eyed as she pronounced her words carefully. This was unbelievable.

Was Kyuubi finally accepting Naruto?

* * *

**Look, if you don't review, it must mean you don't like it. And if you don't like it, there is no point in me writting it. So... Have we come to an understandment? Yes? No? Maybe so?**

**Does that sound like begging? Or threatening? I can't be quite sure. I just came back from unsuccesfully getting into the cinema, so it has muddled my brain.**

She was all prepared to go. And this time, she would manage. Oh yes. This would work. She kissed the bone-shaped necklace she wore under her shirt at all times.

Later, sitting on a very uncomfortable prison bench, she wondered where she had gone wrong. Maybe it was when she had forgotten to turn the alarm off... Or maybe, it was when she had sworn that she would do it, that she would get what she wanted...

How very unprofessional of her. Her mother would not be proud. With this thought, she gleefully started making a new plan to make Akamaru hers.


	5. Chapter 5

**Again, I was going to make it longer, like I usually say. And again, I couldn't be bothered. Besides, I wanted to post it befor I go on vacation. I'll have at leat two to post at the end of break though, I promise. **

**Oh, and could you please tell me whether this style of writting is boring as hell? I can't quite tell on my own.**

**Disclaimer: Or Tenten... Or Neji... Or Lee (thank God)...

* * *

**

Jiraya scrolled through his database, barely glancing at the items that appeared on the screen. He knew most of it off by heart anyway. He was trying to think of what one would need to conduct living experiments. Well, a test subject, for sure. Either animal or human. Then, material. Scalpels, microscopes, pincers... He knew that much.

For the subject not to be infected by the instruments, they would have to be clean... Probably even new. And to insure that the... experiment... survived, Orochimaru would need medicine. A lot of it. And he wouldn't be able to make everything himself. He would need some kind of supplier...

So... if he traced large quantities of medicine to obscure locations, he just might... Brilliant (if he didn't say so himself).

Forgetting the useful invention called Internet, Jiraya shot out of his chair and ran to find a phone book in the library. Not too long after, he returned, embarrassed looking and in pain, having had a whole shelf of old heavy phone books fall on his head. He was covered in dust and annoyed as hell.

Well, time for some phone calls. His list comprised of every pharmaceutical agency that existed in the country. Not looking forward to having the boss yell at him for the phone bill (It would be long. Very long.) he picked up the phone and started dialling.

On the computer database, there were now many more things to look at. It wouldn't take him long to learn those off by heart too, but for the moment, he had a good reason for having the computer turned on constantly. He smiled thinking of how much it would annoy the boss.

Oh well. The old man would have to just deal with it. If the third got a heart attack, maybe he would be promoted; Now that would be good. That aside, he had learned a few interesting things. He had a list of products that were being shipped in great quantities to dark, suspicious places. he wasn't an expert on medicines though, and he didn't feel like wasting his time on Internet researching things when he had a medical expert perfectly willing to help (or at least, he hoped she would be.), so he would have to talk to Tsunade again. To ask her what Orochimaru was most likely to need.

Flicking his cell phone open, he dialed a number. Unfortunately, before he got the right person, he talked to a series of very angry people who did not appreciate being woken up so early on a Saturday morning. He snickered, remembering the companies he had phoned hadn't appreciated it much either. Eventually though, he ended up with the right sleepy voice on the other end.

"-Yawn- what -yawn- -Huge yawn- watchawant?"

"Well, for you to be awake might be good..."

"Wat'ver. S'hole."

"Aww... But Kiba! I need you to come here without crashing your car!!!"

"Wha'! This early? Yougottabekidin'!"

"I'll give you what... Half an hour? That should do fine."

"Wha'! C'mon! 'N hour 't least!"

"20 minutes?" He could almost see Kiba's eyes widen in fright.

"Nooooo! 'll be there!!!" The phone was dropped, ending that conversation.

Three quarters of an hour later, Kiba stumbled into the office, making many things fall to the ground. A disgruntled Secretary would come in later, like every other day, grumbling at Kiba's existence, but at that particular moment, no one payed attention to the dropped items.

"Kiba Look at that! You're here! How are you doing son?"

"Shut Up! Now what did you want you old perv?"

"Oh, how could you? Why call the man who has treated you so well something so disrespectful?"

"Uh, because you are a perv? May be a good reason, don't you think?"

"Tsk. Stop insulting your teacher and go do some errands for me like the good lit'le boy you are, okay? How does that sound?"

"I dunno... Can I insult him some more before going?" With that, Kiba was thrown out of the door, a footprint printed viciously on his backside. He waited triumphant, until Jiraya came out sheepishly, handing him a list to show to Tsunade. With another insult, and a new print matching the one he had gotten earlier on his backside, he was put on his way.

* * *

"So you still haven't heard from him?" Shizune's voice echoed, as the phone connection faltered. Getting worried, Iruka answered in the negative. 

Naruto hadn't shown up at his place, and he hadn't seen the slightest trace of the blond since lunch at Ichiraku's, the previous day.

"Well, thanks anyway. I'm sorry to have bothered you, Iruka. Could you please give us a call when you find out where he is?"

"Yeah, I'll do that. I'll go looking for him later, if he still doesn't make an appearance." They rapidly concluded the conversation, paring to take care of separate business, although each was as worried as the other.

As she put down the phone, Shizune saw Kiba rush through the office. Before she could try the slightest thing though, he disappeared into Tsunade's office. She was sad to see he had -by a sudden increase of braincell activity- thought to leave Akamaru out of the secretary's reach.

She'd made appointments with each one of the Jinchuuriki, except Naruto. Actually, she had found six of them regrouped in Fara's house. Which was strange in itself. They never usually came together without Naruto being there. When the girl had answered, she had seemed worried and stressed about something. She wouldn't say what though. All of the others had been the same too, she couldn't help noticing as she talked to each one of them in turn.

Maybe this was linked to Naruto's sudden disappearance. She had wondered whether she should inform Tsunade. After some thought, she decided to give it a few hours. Naruto could always appear again before she had to say anything at all.

If that happened, she wouldn't have to go up against the doctor's legendary bad temper.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What is this?" Tsunade asked Kiba suspiciously.

"Dunno. Jiraya told me to give this to you." He tried to look over her shoulder. Still as as confused as when he hadn't actually seen the paper, he asked her: "Errr... What is it?"

"It's a list. Of medicines. Why would Jiraya send you just to give me this?"

"Dunno. Well, maybe it's about whatever you discussed with him yesterday. He seemed pretty preoccupied about that."

"he didn't tell you what I said?"

"Nope. Not a word. But he seemed pretty out of sorts. Besides, he usually tells me what he's making me do... So it's probably linked..." Tsunade stared at the paper again.

Something in her mind clicked. He wanted to know which of these medicines Orochimaru was most likely to need.

She smiled slightly, realising that the old man was smarter than he usually let on. Even she wouldn't have come up with that, and she was the medic, not him.

After ticking the items that seemed most likely the evil scientist would have sent to him, she handed the list to Kiba and threw him out, saying she had better things to do than sit around chatting, and looking at stupid list that her old school mate sent through an apprentice.

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Kiba sat down in the car and looked carefully at the list of items, wondering what this was about. he hoped that Jiraya would tell him something soon. He'd never liked being kept in the dark, and coming from the old man, it was very strange behaviour.

He made a note to ask his teacher when he gave the list back.

When he got to the office however, the spiky white haired pervert was no-where to be seen.

He sat down and decided he had better stay and wait. He wanted to give the list back himself, and Jiraya didn't like leaving important things lying around. After all, you never knew who would come by, and be curious enough to poke around.

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A few floors higher, Jiraya was talking to his old master, who was also, by an unfortunate play of circumstance his boss. And the third police chief.

"I don't think he can gain anything more by staying with me. You should either assign him to someone else, or give him an actual position. I'm sure he'd appreciate it."

"Are you sure this is what's best for him? Have you even asked him about this?" Jiraya thought for a minute before answering this.

"Yes. I think that it's time for a few things to change."

"You think."

"Yes. I do. It's time for the boy to see something different." Sarutobi looked at the man before him, and although he did not quite understand the other man's reasons, he sympathized. For his old student to act this way, something must really be weighing on his mind. He had an idea what that something was too.

"Okay... Tell the boy to come see me. There's a post available, and he is the best suitable applicant. How's that?"

"Good. Thanks."

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Kiba had sat down, and was starting to get bored. Jiraya usually never got off his back. He always had something for him to do. The old pervert could at least have called him, to tell him that there was absolutely no reason his job as an errand boy. He could have stopped and chatted with Shizune.

He turned around, and as he saw his teacher's computer flash at him, he got an evil idea. Those flashing colours were just pleading him to give in. He clicked on the screen, and moved the mouse so as the pointer was now in the 'enter your password' space.

Today, he would definitely crack the old man's code. He knew from experience that there wasn't a specific number of entries possible before the system crashed, so without a second thought, he started typing in then validating any random word that might cross through the old pervert's mind.

Sexy girl

Missie mollie

Idiots

Bestcopperever

Custommade

Manacles

Sleeplessnight

Managementissues (way too long for the old perv, but could happen...)

Goosipment

Wellendowed

Tsunade Sanin

Hearing a noise, Kiba jumped off his teacher's chair and lent against the desk, ready to pretend he had been there the whole time. As a white spiky-haired head appeared, he thanked the Gods for good reflexes.

"Kiba!" The white haired man exclaimed.

"So, you're finally back! I was about to send a search party. Of girls of course, that way you'd be sure to arrive quickly. You know, you might as well call. Just because you consider me as your errand boy doesn't mean you absolutely have to forget about me!"

"Err... Sorry. I was with the 3rd."

"Really? Why? Couldn't you avoid him any longer?"

"Well no... I was talking to him about your new position."

"Well you could at least have told me! I've been wai-" Kiba stopped suddenly, letting the words sink in. They both looked at one another, Kiba with a look of complete shock and incomprehension, and Jiraya with the most stubborn look he could muster.

"Wait... What?"

"Your new position. We both agreed that you've learnt enough from me to be on your own. So he's giving you the job. You're the best we could find."

"What do you mean, I get the job? There is no Job! I would have know about it!"

"Well, you have it. The boss is waiting for you to come up."

"So what, you're just getting rid of me? Is that how it is?" Kiba's mood had just gone from joking to angry. he was pissed. How could that arsehole do that to him after so long? He just brushed him odd as if they hadn't been almost like partners, as if their friendship didn't mean anything.

"You old Jerk! You're a fucking bastard." This was all he could possibly say to the older man as he pushed past him, rushing straight out of the building.

Jiraya looked down at the floor, slightly ashamed of himself. He should have known. This wasn't the right way to do things. But this had to change. Besides, he couldn't let the kid distract him from this case. Things were much better this way. For both of them.

Slightly angry, he sat down at his computer and started scrolling down the medicine hist he'd had up before blocking his computer. Going on a good medical search engine, he looked up which medicines Orochimaru would be most likely to have delivered to him.

He'd catch that stupid bastard.

* * *

Shizune looked up suddenly. She had been working very hard, just as good secretaries must always do if they want to make their mothers proud, but the howl that echoed through her ears would have distracted anyone. Especially since it sounded very much like her beloved Akamaru. She dismissed it though, making a note in her mind (she stuck it to the drawer on the right side in the middle, because that's 'Maru's drawer) to ask Kiba if anything was wrong.

* * *

_Look, can't we just go home? I mean, we've been out all night, and we still haven't found anything useful. You said so yourself!_

**Well, it would go faster if you actually helped me. Seriously, it's as if you couldn't use your brain with me in it.**

_Tch. I am helping. I've been running around, looking for things all night! You're lucky I have good eyesight, or we would be unconscious or something by now._

**You would be unconscious. I would just be annoyed. And you think that's lucky? If I weren't here you wouldn't have that 'night-vision' thing.**

_If you weren't here, I wouldn't have to run around all night. Seriously! It's bloody useless that's what it is._

**Yeah, well if you actually took into account anything yourself! You might be see things all right, but I'm always the one that has to analyze ****everything!**

_Well, at least you don't have a stupid demon in your head, bossing you around. You really are a pain in the neck. _An ear-splitting roar echoed through the forest. Luckily enough (Well, for everyone but Naruto really) only the blond could hear it.

Grumbling loudly to no-one in particular, Naruto continued on his way, going from branch to branch like he usually did. It was fun, and he loved it even more considering the so few people could manage the feat.

Even he had his limits though. He was tired after running around all night, to find something that the Bijuu didn't see fit to inform him about.

_Can we just rest for a bit? I mean, we've been going ages._

**Fine. Ten minutes. But then, we go on. **The fact that they hadn't found anything although so many strangers had been around was infuriating the Demon. People were so clumsy and thoughtless these days that they always left rubbish and other undesirable things lying around. It was as if someone had cleared everything up. It was strange.

Sighing contentedly, Naruto sat down on the ground, leaning against a tree trunk. He grumbled a bit as his hair caught onto a sharp splinter. He reached up, got his hair untangled and, mumbling to himself about stupid people carving stupid things into not-so-stupid trees.

Inside his head, Kyuubi ignored him, trying desperately to find clues in what the boy had seen. But there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. What kind of person was this careful. Then again, he could think of a few. Most demons actually. And some humans were almost as bad as demons. Like- like...

He woke the blond up in a relatively unpleasant way (it could have been worse. If he had tried. Hard. Roaring to the point of making the only person who could actually hear him deaf is pretty hard to beat though...).

Grumbling again (more out of habit than anything else really) the blond rubbed his hurt head. He'd banged it against the trunk behind him.

**What's been carved into the tree?**

_Whatchamean?_

**Get up, and turn around. **Sleepily, Naruto complied.

_Yeah, and? Wha-_ For a minute he stood staring at what was carved into the tree. The Uchiha fan was obvious there, a few blond strands of blond hair trapped in a splinter at the bottom of the symbol.

"Sasuke." Naruto almost whispered the name. Kyuubi scowled. Of course. They had to make it so obvious that you would only ever find it by accident. He opted for something rather more ambivalent.

**Uchiha.**

**

* * *

**

**Yay! That's done. Sad isn't it? Jiraya doesn't usually act like a bastard. But oh well.**

Shizune rung the doorbell. This was a strange experience for her, as she usually tried to sneak into this particular house unnotices, and usually set off the alarm, using that system to alert the rightfull owner of her presence. But she really thought that something might be wrong today, so she decided that a conventional way of appearing might be of essence.

When Kiba opened the door, he looked very sad. And, sympathysing with his pain, she didn't even try to make little 'Mary hers that day. There would be other days, better days to do that.

**Awww. Isn't Shizune nice? You would have thought she would take advantage of the situation, but nooo. She's consoling him instead.**

**Well, hope you liked it. Please Review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm a bit late you say? What a lot late? Noooo. That can't be! I'm not lazy! Not me!!! What makes you think that?!?!**

**Well, hope you like it. Even though it is... late (**_very late!!!!_**) Late.**

* * *

Sasuke dropped the test tube he'd been holding. He hadn't slept at all since he'd come back, and apparently, it was getting to him. He sighed and dropped to his knees, picking up the broken pieces. 

Something under the desk caught his attention. A green light was blinking on a barrel. He'd never really noticed it before. But then again, it had never been blinking at him instantly like it was now.

Suddenly, the light just went red. This intrigued him no end. Forgetting the broken test tube, he reached forwards and pulled the small barrel out. He was surprised to see that there were others just like the one he had set eyes on.

He occupied himself for a few minutes, pulling out all of the barrels one by one. He counted them, noting that there were nine of them. Something in the back of his mind was shouting and banging around, trying to attract attention to it's self. Unfortunately, Sasuke had gotten incredibly good at ignoring that voice.

He checked the lights on all of them. Most were still green. Only one of them was red, and another was blinking slowly. A file was sitting in the floor. It had been hidden under the barrels till he had decided to move everything.

It was covered in dust, but still perfectly conserved. This was Kabuto, after all. He opened the file and scanned through the contense. A particular title caught his eye.

Jinchuriki Cell Control.

As he read the information he had never even glanced before, his eyes widened. This... was bad. Very bad.

The green light meant that cell reproduction was fine. The blinking one meant that it was decreasing. The red meant that there was dangerously little, or none at all.

And this cell control... It seemed to be for the first batch of Jinchuriki Orochimaru had tried his skills on. The one that Naruto was part of. And one of those nine Jinchuriki was going to die. Very soon by the looks of it. And he had absolutely no indication of who it was.

But... Naruto had seemed fine a few days ago... This couldn't be right. But something told him it had even less chance of being wrong.

Suddenly, he thought of his work. Of what he had been doing for the past few years. He had just finished taking care of their last batch of... subjects. He didn't think they would survive... None of the others had... But what if they did?

He thought of what the consequences might be. Bad. Horrible.

* * *

Kiba woke up suddenly. He got up grumbling, walking towards his kitchen. 

He'd had a dream. Not a bad dream. Not a good dream. Just... a dream. It'd have been boring if he hadn't felt that something out of place. Something he was missing.

It had been about his... fight, with Jiraya. Strange. Usually he slept like a rock. Not a dream in sight.

So what the heck was up with that?

Shrugging it off and feeding Akamaru, he wondered how she should occupy himself. he didn't have much to do really. He guessed he didn't quite have a job anymore, thanks to the rather... inconsiderate way he'd stormed out of the building, yelling insults to and about his 'teacher'. Or mentor. Whichever works. Bar that. Would have worked not two days before.

Maybe he'd go in search of Naruto. He'd heard the guy had disappeared from when he was in Shizune's office, and it was so rare for the blond to do such a thing that something must have happened. He'd go see Hinata. Maybe she'd know something.

* * *

Naruto was running. He was following the sent the Uchiha had left behind. For once, he really was glad to have Kyuubi. At the moment, the demon was helping him with his extremely good sense of smell. 

**Right.** Naruto didn't discuss this, turning in the direction the Bijuu had indicated immediately.

**You know, whichever one it actually is, you have to be careful. Very much so actually. When it comes to hurting you, they're both as good. Or as bad. Whichever way you want to say it.**

_We have to find him. You said so yourself. His smell is new. He can't be far._

**I also pointed out that there were two of them.**

_I know, you keep saying that._

**And you aren't listening. Right. **They came tumbling down a hill, having burst out of the undergrowth.

_Right. _And he ran on again, pushing his way back into the forest he had so rapidly exited. Then he stopped. Even he could smell the stench. It seemed to weigh down the air, suffocating him. The trees also seemed to feel it, their leaved drooping, they seemed to have lost their color.

"What is that?"

**That, Naruto, is death? Bad death. It smells... wrong. Left.**

_No. Not left. I can tell from your tone. Sasuke didn't go left._

**True. But you're still turning left. This is too wrong for us to ignore. **Naruto reasoned with himself (really himself, nothing to do with Kyuubi). He really should check it out. He could continue to search for Sasuke later. As soon as this was over.

He turned left. As he walked forwards, the smell got worse. Much worse. It seemed to slowly weigh him down. As he continued to breath it in, it started to make him anxious. He now felt sick and disgusted. Disconcerted, both the container and the demon felt it. Something was wrong here. This was not just death. Not even a disgusting horrible death. This was... Evil.

**Stop. Here. Dig. **Naruto knelt down and put his hands on the ground. **NOW!** He started digging. After a while, his hands brushed something soft. He pulled away so fast that he fell backwards.

It was a body. Naruto moved towards the hole, to make sure what he had seen was really there. Kyuubi stopped him.

**NO! Don't touch that!** Naruto jumped, startled by the insistence of the Bijuu.

**This... This smell. It smells of demon.**

The statement was followed by silence. I was a heavy, horrible silence. Almost as bad as the atmosphere the corpses spread around them.

**We have to go back.**

_No. _Naruto, although shaken, still had a single thought in mind. It had raven hair.

**We are going back. Now.**

_No. We are going to look for Sasuke. Then we can go back._

**This is more important than that boy.**

_No it isn't. He might even know what's happening. _Inside his head, spurred on by that single thought, Kyuubi made all of the connections. A light bulb may have appeared were the occasion less drastic. But we'll have to settle for a flash of lightning.

**Naruto. We are going back. **Before the blond could answer, Kyuubi made him turn around, and they started sprinting back the way they had come, both their minds filled with anxiety.

* * *

Fara was exhausted. She'd spent the whole day running around, trying to find all of the Jinchuriki. Goubei and Shuyo had been easy to find. Not only were they generally together, but they never wandered far anyway. Jianyi and Motohuan hadn't been much trouble either. They spent most of their time in her house and garden anyway. 

Gaara wasn't a problem either. He came to check up on her at least twice a day. So finding him was easier than avoiding him really.

No. It was the others she was having trouble with. Heishi was probably dancing around the town, trying to find something to entertain her. For the others... They were... Well. She couldn't quite find the word actually. Volatile sounded... well dangerous. Then again, they were pretty dangerous. All of them.

Goshin... Where could he be? In the forest probably. Either sleeping, or making poisons (one's slightly more harmful). And Banji... She was probably in the forest too. There was a shrine there, where she had been found after Orochimaru had let them out into the open. The only problem was: that thing was really hard to find.

She wasn't quite sure how she was meant to find them, to give them the message. Couldn't they just... just be there?!?!?! It was so frustrating! And why was she always the one that had to find them all on such short notice?! She felt her rage grow, taking up all of the space in her mind.

From across the room, Motohuan looked up, annoyed.

"You didn't have to shout."

"I didn't shout. I'm just a bit annoyed."

"You were shouting."

"No. I wasn't." At this point, Jianyi ran into the room looking worried. She was panting she had run so fast.

"Fara! Are you okay?" It was amazing how much she cared about Fara She seemed to not give a damn about anybody else.

"I'm FINE! What's wrong with you guys?"

"You were shouting so loud! I could hear you from the other end of the garden."

"I. Was. Not. SCREAMING!!!" What can I say? The poor girl's frustrated at the world at the moment.

"But I heard you." They looked at each other, confused. Then Fara smiled sadistically -insert light bulb. Or lighting really. Your choice.-

"You guys really heard me scream?" They both looked at her stupidly. Wasn't that what they had been trying to bore in her head seconds before?

**Everyone. Come to my... Fara's house. Immediately.**

**Naruto...Kyuubi has called an urgent meeting.**

**

* * *

**

Jiraya had talked to many people. He had seen many people, argued with many people, been glad that a few people were there, and been annoyed at a great number of people.

For some reason which he did not understand, this seemed to be playing with his mind. Not only was he grumbling some strange words such as idiots and bastards under his breath, but he also seemed to have trouble concentrating on the road in front of him. In the last few minutes he had come dangerously close to crashing the car thrice!

He was heading for a forest. It was a likely place for Orochimaru to be heading. There had been many deliveries in this region, and he had a strong feeling that he was on target. He had never felt so close. He was surprised how close it was to their hometown though. he really hadn't expected that. Then again, this was Orochimaru.

He still had to find the hideout though. That might take a while. Maybe he should have kept Kiba with him. he felt a pang of guilt at the thought, but shrugged it off. He'd make it up to the kid when he got back. They could do fine on their own for a while. Easy. No trouble.

He parked the car in one of those forest car parks where all you have is mud, a garbage can and a picnic table. There is also, if you dare to venture a little into the forest, many pieces of toilet paper, courtesy of previous passers-by.

He got out, went to the back and, after having opened the trunk up, he put all of his gear together, and pulled the single big pack left onto his back. Not knowing how long he would be away, he'd taken a lot of stuff. He didn't like having to carry it all now, but it would be useful later, and he knew it.

Avoiding the oh-so-charming toilet paper that littered the ground, he stated making has way into the forest, to search for the man who had been avoiding him for many yearn now.

A few house later, he was standing on top of a hill. He'd chosen to come here so as to have a good viewpoint. He was tired as hell now (good choices are... bad. hard.), but he had to admit, the view was indeed good. Very nice. There were quite a few trees. Well, quite a lot actually. Bar that. There was nothing but trees.

What had he expected? A great big ugly concrete building? A sign saying 'Evil Orochimaru's unfindable hideout!'. That would have been nice. But nooo. So much for hard but good ideas. He sat down, slightly discouraged, looking at thee vast expanse of tree.

Brooding, he rested his head against one of the trees, since there were quite a few to choose from, as we've established, and he closed his eyes. When he heard an explosion, he wondered who had managed to make their cooker explode. So close to a police station too. He hoped the forest didn't burn down.

He jumped to his feet suddenly, realising his thoughts didn't actually align. He wasn't at the police station. He was in the middle of the forest, on a hill. There had been a sudden explosion. In the forest.

He watched a pillar of smoke as it rose higher and higher into the sky. And smiled. Picking up his pack, he walked on, taking a precise direction, as if he knew where he was going.

"He could have just put up that sign instead."

* * *

**Well, that was it! Did you like it?! Did you!? Sorry, I havn't got enough energy to find a funny Shizune comic... I'll put one in when I do. That good?**

**Please review, and I hope you have a nice... night I guess...**

**Oh! Wait! I have a funny poem!!!**

**'Night', said the knight to the other knight the other night. 'Night night, knight.'**

**Oh, and I'm sorry for the name mistake. One of my friends confused me, not on purpose, then pointed out the error. Thanks. That was Sahdowcat by the way.**


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